In response to CorkscrewBlow’s post on the USA vs PE matchup, I decided to dispense some advice on how to play Americans in this matchup. I think a good place to start would be analyzing the early game advantages and disadvantages that you have, so to help form a general strategy.
Advantages:
1. Engineers – Almost all American players start with 2 engineers. This gives them the best early game capturing power in CoH. Engineers easily counter opposing pioneers or kettenrads, forcing the Axis player to divert combat troops to help. This makes for relatively easy capturing of important points on the map.
2. Rifles – Riflemen hit the field fast, and can overpower Panzer Grenadiers by charging them in most cases. This allows American players to either win the first fight (by finding the first PG squad and attacking it) or force the enemy to fall back and regroup with his second PG squad (meaning no help for his kettengrads against engineers).
Disadvantages:
1. Infantry Halftracks – In general Infantry Halftracks are difficult to deal with early on. They move around the field fast, carry PG squads, and can reinforce those PG squads. Because of their speed and power, they are ideal for escorting kettengrads to capture territory, or backing up a push by PGs. They are also repaired by the same units they carry, making repair easy and cheap.
2. Upgraded PGs – Panzer Grenadiers are easy to deal with when they first come out, but as the game progresses these units get much tougher. Upgrades like the G43, Defensive Operations, and 4 man squads can make PGs superior to riflemen.
The Overall Strategy
Now that we have analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the early game matchup, its time for the overall strategy. Since it is clear that Americans have an advantage early on, they need to capitalize on it to minimize the amount of time spent in ‘late’ early game where the PE player can bring in his halftracks and upgraded PGs to ruin the American player’s riflemen. To quickly get the game out of Tier 1 (Barracks) the American player should use his early advantage to capture as much fuel as possible. After that, he will need to make sure that his opponent doesn’t have much fuel (to limit the amount of halftracks and upgrades he can purchase). After getting the game out of Tier 1, the American player begins to have an advantage. Good play with 57mm AT guns will shut down the PE player’s armor, and WSC units (mainly snipers and machine guns) backed by upgraded rifles will handle the infantry. In my opinion, playing USA vs PE is mainly a game of just trying to hold out until the American can get his sniper/AT gun/Upgrade rifle steamroller rolling. Once that is up, the PE player has few options that cannot be overcome by creative play. He cannot kill the snipers without the ATHT’s focus fire, but he can’t get that in range long enough with the AT guns covering the sniper. Without the sniper dead, his infantry will continue to take expensive losses (Everytime the sniper fires, he kills a PG worth 43 manpower!). Without the infantry, his tanks can’t take on the AT guns. His only option is left to artillery, of which the PE barely has any to speak of. The mortar halftrack sits only about 10m out of AT gun range, so if the AT gun moves just a little bit forward it can start hitting it. The hummel comes late, is doctrine specific, and dies to just about any light armor left unguarded. Remember: the PE vs American matchup is very heavy on fuel control, whoever is able to control it early on is likely to win the game.
Replay
Here is a replay vs planeswalker (6 on the PE ladder) where I beat his PE using the concepts in the article. He didn’t build infantry halftracks, but if he did he would have just been screwed more because he wouldn’t have had the fuel to research panzershrecks before my M8 won the game. Here is the link to the game (rapidshare was the only filehoster I could think of, if you don’t want to use it shoot me off an email at Steven.Uray@gmail.com and I’ll put the replay in the reply)
http://rapidshare.com/files/118215183/2p_angoville_farms.2008-05-27.22-30-16.rec.html
Rifles Ready! 
This is unlike many games I have seen. Surprise basically wins by outcapping, scaring off Planes’ Kettenrad and destroying several Kettens throughout the game.
Particularly interesting is Surprise’s strategy of massing 3-4 Rifles and using them to draw fire from the PE’s mob of PGs, he just keeps walking his Rifles away from the PG squads while his Engies keep capping and planting mines, which keep Planeswalker cut off.
Eventually this results in an M8 for Surprise and Planes only has enough fuel to produce a couple of Shreck squads in defense. The avoidance/outcapping game continues until Surprise just has an overwhelming amount of anti-PG units on the field, including his vetted M8, sniper and BAR Rifles.
thanks surprise. but i’ve been having problems lately with the multiple inf ht (like 3) with ami lately esp on sturz cause there’s only one big fuel area and i can’t avoid a fight there like in your game with planeswalker. do you have any good reps of this? i feel like i need bars cause my rifles can’t hold a fight against 2 inf ht and 2 g43, i lose all map control and get cut off, so no m8.
If you get BARs you should also get Rangers or Paras for AT, Rifles even with BARs are too easily kited.
You are certainly right in that you can’t let the +16 go uncontested on Sturz, however if you can interrupt his control of the +16, and you hold the +10s and at some +5 fuels, your Motorpool/M8/AT gun will not be far behind his AC/Marders/P4.
As for fighting HTs with G43s, it is very hard with 4 Rifles only. You will have gather ALL your stuff together to do it. I recommend you add a Flame Engy to your Rifles, the flamer will kill multiple PGs inside a Halftrack and will force him to focus fire on it.
Be sure to retreat it after you get a couple flames off.
KEY: Focus your fire on his Halftracks, one at a time. It is easy for him to reinforce his PGs or put near-dead PGs into the Halftrack and you will get nothing for your efforts. By killing a Halftrack you will cost him fuel as well as manpower.
Remember a Jeep can be used to block a Halftrack when it tries to retreat. Remember to attack Halftracks with massed Rifles, split into two groups so the HT doesn’t suppress all of them and escape.
I’ll see if I can’t get some replays to you, the trick with infantry halftracks is to avoid fighting them as much as possible while keeping yourself in the game with some map control. I know this sounds difficult but again I will try and come up with some replays to prove it is possible.
Hi,
this is very useful to us.
Thank you
Nadine
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